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The Northern Mariana Islands Football Association dominated sports headlines this past week after the women’s and men’s nationals hosted the 2nd Annual Marianas Cup against Guam and opened its new headquarters on Saipan.

The CNMI Women’s National Football Team stood its ground against Guam holding its southern neighbor to a scoreless draw last April 26 at the Oleai field inside the Oleai Sports Complex. The scoreless draw was a far improvement from the humiliating 0-7 thrashing they suffered from Guam last year.

The CNMI Men’s National Team, meanwhile, dropped a 2-3 loss to the visiting Guam Men’s National Team held the following day, April 27.

The islands’ football governing body then opened its new home on the third floor of the TSL Building in Garapan with officials from the East Asian Football Federation, Guam Football Association, and local government, business, and sports chiefs joining NMIFA officers in the office blessing. The event following the women’s match two Saturdays ago.

Tsunami Swimming Center Saipan, meanwhile, had a successful campaign in the 2008 Guam Short Course Championships held last April 26 at the Hagatna Pool in Guam.

The club’s eight young swimmers took home a total of 19 medals from the swim meet led by 8-year-old Kaito Yanai, who bagged five medals—four gold and one silver—en route to finishing third place overall in his division.

Also part of the team were Kaisei Toda, Takumi Sugie, Ritsuki Umeda, Daisuke Fitial, Kosei Toda, Ryosei Toda, and Fumika Umeda.

Rezne Wong went to Guam with the junior swimmers and won two of four events he competed in during the 2008 GSF All Island Invitational Swim Meet.

The Marianas High School student finished first in the 200m individual medley with a time of 2:17.46 and also topped the 100m backstroke after touching the tile in 1:08.38.

Sports last week also saw the 6th Annual NMC Foundation Open tee off at the Laolao Bay Golf Resort with Joung Hoon Park besting a tough field in the Championship Flight.

Park tamed the west course of the Kagman golf facility shooting a three-over-par 75, to enjoy a two-shot lead over perennial title contender Jeff Taylor and Dan Singh, who battled it out for second place in a scorecard playoff.

Ji Hoon Heo remained the CNMI’s top ranked junior netter as he once again ruled the 2008 Spectrum Electric Inc.-Marianas Medical Center Junior Tennis Championships held over the weekend at the American Memorial Park tennis courts.

Veteran runner Ronald Villafria and bubbly triathlete Mieko Carey, for their part, topped the annual Club Elan 5K Fun Run in record-breaking fashion last April 26 at American Memorial Park.

Local skateboarding enthusiasts also celebrated last Monday as they witnessed the start of construction of Saipan’s first skatepark.

The past week also saw the continuation of games in the SBA Open 8-Ball League, 3rd Annual Budweiser-Saipan Major League, Inaugural FMI Inter-Color Basketball League, and the Saipan Little League Baseball Association.